Comfortable gamepad with powerful Gamepad Mapper feature. Excellent build quality. Very fast for an Android device. Lots of connection and storage options. Local PC game streaming works well.

Cons

Expensive for a gaming handheld. PC game streaming is unreliable outside of home networks and requires specific GeForce hardware.

Bottom Line

The Nvidia Shield Portable is one of the most unique Android devices out there, combining a 5-inch tablet with physical game controls.

PC Game Streaming The Shield Portable has a very unique and useful feature. It can stream games from a locally networked PC to the Shield Portable, so you can play full PC titles on the handheld. It's similar to the Nintendo Wii U's ability to play Virtual Console and other games on the gamepad within range. It opens up the Shield Portable to more flexibility as long as you're near your computer, but even after the April 2014 update it's still fairly limited.

The PC GameStream feature is currently out of beta, and fully functional for locally networked computers with the correct hardware. You need a desktop with at least a GeForce 650 GTX GPU or a laptop with at least a GeForce 700M (or one of a handful of select Kepler-based GeForce 600M) GPU to stream, so Radeon, integrated graphics, and older GeForce users are out of luck and limited only to the Shield Portable's Android functionality.

When you're connected to the same Wi-Fi network as your PC, GameStream works near flawlessly. Nvidia lists about 100 games specifically compatible with GameStream, but it can work with many other games not on the list. Supported games like Titanfall, DmC (Devil May Cry), and Borderlands 2 all worked without a hitch, as did the unsupported platformer Mercenary Kings. Strangely, while the unsupported two-button fighter Divekick loaded and streamed to the Shield Portable just fine, it wouldn't detect the gamepad's inputs. In all games, I was impressed by the lack of latency with our lab's Wi-Fi networks. GameStream performance depends on your network speed and router, and Asus has a list of "GameStream-Ready" routers from Buffalo, D-Link, Netgear, and Asus itself. You don't need a specific GameStream-Ready router, but dual-band support is strongly recommended.

Nvidia has launched a beta version of a new Remote Streaming feature for GameStream. On paper, it should let users play their PC games outside of the home through any Internet connection, streamed from their PC just as if it was on the same network as their Shield Portable. The feature requires a reliable 5Mbps downstream and upstream for both the user's PC and Shield Portable, and needs a bit of port configuration to get it to work. We were unable to get Remote Streaming to work in GameStream in our tests at the lab, and users should be aware that, like GameStream itself at launch, Remote Streaming is an experimental feature.

Whatever you play on the Shield Portable while using the PC streaming feature shows up on your computer screen. This means you can't have someone at the computer doing something else while you play games, but it does mean the Shield Portable can function as a Wii U-like gamepad. You can have the extra screen with your game on it, but you can also use the gamepad while looking at your monitor or, if you have your computer hooked up to one, HDTV. Console Mode cuts out the Shield Portable's screen as the middleman and can display 1080p video of whatever you play through GameStream.

ConclusionIt's really tough to judge the Nvidia Shield Portable. As its own device, it's the most well-constructed, comfortable, powerful, and technically impressive Android gadget I've ever used. The gamepad feels great, the screen looks sharp and vivid, and the speakers sound excellent. At $250, it's a powerful and expensive (if $50 less expensive than it was at launch) piece of hardware that requires an investment in time and enthusiasm to get the most out of it. In other words, it's an archetypical Android device.

It's extremely functional even without the dedicated game libraries of the Vita and 3DS, and the addition of Gamepad Mapper opens up the solid physical controls to work with nearly any Android game. Console Mode adds to the value of the Shield Portable, turning it into a powerful, open Android microconsole you have complete control over without being limited by the manufacturer's ecosystems. Bluetooth mouse and keyboard support, along with its HDMI out, even let the Shield Portable take the dubious role of an Android-based home theater PC. And, frankly, the Shield Portable is the ideal tool for the legally gray area of console emulation.

The Nvidia Shield Portable is a remarkable gaming handheld that overcame its flaws at launch with extremely useful new features and a welcome price cut. It still doesn't quite hit the $200 sweet spot that would put it at the same level as the PlayStation Vita, although it sometimes can be found for that price on the street. But for gaming enthusiasts and hackers willing to put the effort into getting the most out of Android, this has shaped up into a genuinely compelling device and earns our Editors' Choice distinction thanks to Nvidia's updates and changes since release. Howeverl, for sheer power, the $300 Shield Tablet's Tegra K1 CPU blows the Shield Portable and most other Android devices out of the water, though it's more expensive and lacks the Shield Portable's physical controls.

Will Greenwald has been covering consumer technology for a decade, and has served on the editorial staffs of CNET.com, Sound & Vision, and Maximum PC. His work and analysis has been seen in GamePro, Tested.com, Geek.com, and several other publications. He currently covers consumer electronics in the PC Labs as the in-house home entertainment expert, reviewing TVs, media hubs, speakers, headphones, and gaming accessories. Will is also an ISF Level II-certified TV calibrator, which ensures the thoroughness and accuracy of all PCMag TV reviews....
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PCMag.com's lead mobile analyst, Sascha Segan, has reviewed hundreds of smartphones, tablets and other gadgets in more than 9 years with PCMag. He's the head of our Fastest Mobile Networks project, one of the hosts of the daily PCMag Live Web show and speaks frequently in mass media on cell-phone-related issues. His commentary has appeared on ABC, the BBC, the CBC, CNBC, CNN, Fox News, and in newspapers from San Antonio, Texas to Edmonton, Alberta.
Segan is also a multiple award-winning travel writer, having contributed...
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